Russian court jails rights lawyer for ‘discrediting’ the military

A Moscow court has convicted the co-chairman of Memorial, the Russian rights organization that awarded the prize Nobel Peace Prize 2022to two and a half years in prison for “discrediting” the Russian military by expressing its opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Although the Kremlin ordered his group’s liquidation in late 2021, its co-chairman, Oleg Orlov, 70, chose to remain in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine two years ago and has continued to criticize his government despite a climate of increasing repression.

In November 2022, Mr. Orlov wrote one article headlined: “They wanted fascism. They understood,” in which he blamed President Vladimir V. Putin and the broader Russian public for the invasion and allowing the country to “fall back into totalitarianism.”

Nearly a year later, he was convicted of “repeatedly defaming” the Russian armed forces. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to five years, but he was only punished with a fine of 150,000 rubles, about $1,600, due to mitigating factors including his age and his prominent public profile.

Prosecutors, accusing him of demonstrating “a motive of enmity and hatred towards military personnel,” requested a new trial and three-year prison sentence. A Moscow court granted that request and reheard the case, resulting in the conviction Tuesday.

Mr Orlov has maintained his innocence and labeled the allegations as bogus.

“I do not admit guilt, and the accusation is not clear to me,” he told the court during a hearing in mid-February. “The court, despite my requests, was unable to clearly explain the essence of the charges against me.”

Rights groups and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne M. Tracy condemned the verdict.

“In previous times, his efforts have been rewarded at the highest level,” Ms. Tracy said in a statement on the embassy’s website. “In today’s Russia he is locked up for them.”

Since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine two years ago, repression in Russia has increased. There are hundreds of political prisoners in the country, according to Memorial, Mr. Orlov’s organization, which was founded during the fall of the Soviet Union to document the Stalin regime’s rights abuses.

More than 20,000 people have been arrested for protesting the war in Ukraine, including nearly 400 since the death of Russia’s top opposition figure. Aleksei A. Navalnywas announced this month.